The Rise of the Black Plain

"Hmm, I understand. So many families are considering this issue as a turning point that could completely change the Stone Island." Elena commented while she had a resolute look in her eyes.

The merchant families of Stone Island were interested in Minos and Elen's business, as well as the powerful families of blacksmiths, array masters, and alchemists.

The Neel family, which Elena was a part of, was also interested in this subject. Moreover, the family's patriarch had already asked her father, an elder of that power, to convince Elen's young friend to talk about this matter.

It was common knowledge in her family that Elena was Elen's business partner. Because of this, they wanted to use this connection to find out more about this partnership that Elen had recently made.

However, young Elena was an intelligent woman and knew when she could or could not say something. Therefore, even though they were her family, trusted individuals who had inquired about this matter, she had ignored them, leaving them in the dark about the Black Plain.

As to why powers like the Neel family wanted to contact Elen's business partner without even being trading organizations, that was simple. All noble and wealthy families knew the value that highly concentrated spiritual foods had for cultivators at the beginning of their respective journeys.

However, even though all these powers wanted to buy this type of resource, two problems prevented them from doing so.

First, given Stone Island's location and geographic characteristics, any food would have to be brought in from outside this place.

Of course, there was little agricultural production on Stone Island. Still, it was almost insignificant compared to the more than 200 million inhabitants of this place, which created a great food demand.

Consequently, the state in which the two acquaintances of Minos lived had to import most food resources from outside the island.

But that was a problem. There were no empires or high-level kingdoms in Stone Island's vicinity, making it difficult for high-quality resources to reach this state.

The trip would be too long, generating high costs due to transport! Thus, there was not an ample supply of items rich in spiritual energy in this place.

And this factor implied the second problem for these families, which was the price charged for items of high spiritual concentration.

In addition to the expenses related to long-distance transport, there was still a great demand for these items internally in Stone Island. As a result, the price charged was high, and few organizations could buy large quantities of these foods!

Thus, even families that were not involved in the food business, such as the Neel family, which specialized in producing spiritual artifacts, were interested in doing business directly with the power behind Elen's resources.

These Stone Island's families had already tried to do this by contacting Elen. Still, she had refused to sell these foods directly to them. Consequently, it only remained for them to try to do business directly with Minos!

And so, several of these organizations, like the Olson family, had already asked Elen to indicate them in an attempt to get a share of Minos' items.

Anyway, hearing her friend, Elen nodded and said. "I don't mind talking to Minos about business with your family or the Olson family, as I know they won't try to sell these items on the market. But I can't allow my competitors to steal my business!"

Powers like the family behind the Hotel Olson and the Neel family would not sell such gems. Instead, these items would be used to nourish its younger members, those who are in the early stages of cultivation and who could experience more of the effects of those resources.

Or they would use it to elevate their brands, improving the quality of services offered as the Olson family intended to do. If they could get a deal with Minos, then even becoming the biggest hotel chain in the north of the Central Continent would not be that far off their chances!

After all, each customer places a higher value on the overall quality offered, such as luxury accommodation, top-notch cuisine, personalized service, spiritual concentration, etc.

And what any power like the Olson family could do, without much effort with this new possibility, would be to increase the quality of the meals served in their hotels.

It was difficult to improve on the other aspects, as it would take years to have the necessary resources. But with the prices charged for Minos items, this was different!

Anyway, Elen wouldn't be harmed if powers like these made contact with Minos. In fact, this could still benefit her, as she would be the one responsible for this contact!

Hence, she wouldn't mind gaining favor with these families, to speak to the young Stuart!

"Well, make your preparations. This trip may take a lot longer than it would. Let's go to the Kingdom of the Waves as if we were going to do business in the capital of this place, and then from there, we'll leave for the Black Plain." Elen explained to her friend as she prepared to head back to the building where her residence was.

"Hmm, I understand." Elena then kissed her on the cheek and asked with a teasing look as she bit her lower lip. "Tonight, I don't have any commitments. Do you want to spend the night at my house, or do I come here?"

Elen then looked into her friend's eyes with a slight redness in her cheeks and answered. "I'm going there. You came here last week, so it's my turn to come to you..."

...

And while Elen and Elena were arranging what they would do for the night, there was a commotion at the headquarters of the Black Plain Army at this very moment in the Dry City.

In one of the training camps in that place, there was a large mural with notices about the functioning of that place.

One would typically see notices about the soldiers' pay dates and the various shifts required to work if he looked at this point. In addition, they may occasionally swap shifts with other colleagues through the contacts that were there.

Additionally, there was information about how a soldier could advance his rank, the Rewards' Hall, and a map of the building.

There was an entire order in the Black Plain Army's headquarters, which needed to be informed in places like this to make life easier for new soldiers that enter this institution.

All of them had to register themselves upon joining the army, which would allow them to earn merit points, which could give them benefits within this organization.

Merit points were simple to get. It was enough for a soldier to fulfill his regular activities, receive a small number of points per month, or perform missions, which earned them many more.

These points both served for them to increase their hierarchies, as to buy items inside the headquarters.

First, there was a need for a minimum amount of points for each promotion. Of course, they also had to spend a minimal amount of time at each hierarchy, but generally, this would not be a problem.

Most of them would not have a fast enough cultivation speed to spend less time in their respective hierarchies. Anyway, this was just to prevent a soldier who just joined the army, gain a lot of power in a short time.

Soldiers would even receive a salary and designation equivalent to their levels. Still, they would not have the same rights as others.

For example, Peter was a Sergeant and was paid the equivalent salary. However, he was still below all other Sergeants in the army, having a notice on his identification that he did not yet have the right to lead other soldiers.

But that was not a problem. Even if he were in a position without leadership rights, it would not be long before this change. By the time he reached level 50, Peter's minimum time to stay in each position would have passed. So he would naturally be a Lieutenant, with all benefits, once he reached the 6th stage of cultivation.

Second, merit points were not just used for rank-up. A soldier could also exchange his points for items from the Rewards' Hall.

For example, spiritual artifacts such as armaments and armors, arrays such as spatial rings, and even Silver-grade techniques could be learned by having sufficient points for exchange for these items.

Of course, for these techniques, soldiers could not keep them. They could only learn them. They were also very expensive, and even the soldier with the most merit points still did not have 5% of the amount needed for this...

Anyway, some items could also be picked up for free, as was the case with grade-1 items from the three classifications. A soldier could borrow items from this level when he went to work or perform missions.

As for higher-level items, any of them would have to be purchased with merit points.

Anyway, today there was something different on that mural, which had made all the soldiers who saw it get anxious and motivated to practice even more than usual!

On each of the murals in the headquarters, groups of soldiers huddled together as they chatted actively, almost as if they were at a fair.

At this point, a woman who wore a typical army uniform and had the Sergeant hierarchy symbol on one of her shoulders saw it and laughed before speaking out loud. "That is great! I may have missed the city arena's opening tournament, but now I won't miss this opportunity!"

Upon hearing this, another woman with black hair and an athletic body that was standing next to her said. "You're right, Teri. Unlike the final of that tournament, that shameless Elmer can't take all the spots!"

This woman who had spoken first was the finalist in that small tournament held at the opening of the town's fighting arena, Teri. She had lost back then, having missed that grand prize...

However, she was now re-motivated, discovering that there would be something even more remarkable, a chance that could significantly improve her life!

The notice on that mural advertised a selection among the Sergeants that would occur in a year or so.

At that time, 20 soldiers from that hierarchy would have the chance to participate in something totally new, something that was about to happen for the first time in this organization led by Minos!

And it wasn't long before Teri, and her friend left that place, going back to their respective routines.

However, when leaving, they left an empty space, which allowed another soldier to see the new banner posted on the mural.

At the bottom of the page, the banner featured a small text with some basic information, while bold letters announced: "Army Sergeants, join the selection that will take place in one year and become a member of the Elite Squad!"